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	<title>hemlock Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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		<title>Just Cause Vol. 2</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/10/just-cause-vol-2/</link>
					<comments>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/10/just-cause-vol-2/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Liam Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:02:01 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ben seretan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Caitlin Pasko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Erika Dohi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hemlock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Just Cause]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mal Devisa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Cormier O'Leary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nico Hedley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pleasure systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sam Wenc]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=48140</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Just Cause is a self-described &#8220;labour of love&#8221; run by Cody DeFalco and Evan Welsh, who each have fingers in lots of metaphorical pies across the current independent music landscape. Back in the summer of 2024, they released a charity compilation, Just Cause Vol. 1, in aid of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The collection drew on the pair&#8217;s vast network of friends and acted as both a showcase of contemporary talent and an opportunity to make some money for [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/10/just-cause-vol-2/">Just Cause Vol. 2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just Cause is a self-described &#8220;labour of love&#8221; run by Cody DeFalco and Evan Welsh, who each have fingers in lots of metaphorical pies across the current independent music landscape. Back in the summer of 2024, they released a charity compilation, <em><a href="https://just-cause.bandcamp.com/album/just-cause-vol-1">Just Cause Vol. 1</a></em>, in aid of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The collection drew on the pair&#8217;s vast network of friends and acted as both a showcase of contemporary talent and an opportunity to make some money for an incredibly important cause.</p>
<p>Fast forward a little under two years and Just Cause are at it again. <em>Just Cause Vol. 2</em> takes the blueprint of the original and expands upon it. There are over double the number of contributing artists, with an impressive total of sixty three songs from all corners of our current musical moment. Many of the artists have featured on these very pages (some multiple times), including the likes of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ben-seretan/">Ben Seretan</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/caitline-pasko/">Caitlin Pasko</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/erika-dohi/">Erika Dohi</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hemlock/">hemlock</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/mal-devisa/">Mal Devisa</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/michael-cormier-oleary/">Michael Cormier-O&#8217;Leary</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/nico-hedley/">Nico Hedley</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/pleasure-systems/">Pleasure Systems</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sam-wenc/">Sam Wenc</a>. There&#8217;s such a mix of genres, feelings and styles that there truly is something for everyone, and the minimum donation of $10 is brilliant value in anyone&#8217;s book.</p>
<p>But of course the compilation is about more than music. It is again raising money for another vital cause. All proceeds of <em>Just Cause Vol. 2</em> go to the <a href="https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/">Immigrant Defense Project</a>, who work tirelessly to fight the mass imprisonment and deportation of immigrants in the US. As their mission statement puts it: &#8220;IDP has remained steadfast in fighting for fairness and justice for all immigrants caught at the intersection of the racially biased U.S. criminal and immigration systems. IDP fights to end the current era of unprecedented mass criminalization, detention and deportation through a multipronged strategy including advocacy, litigation, legal advice and training, community defense, grassroots alliances, and strategic communications.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1368940226/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1258991633/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://just-cause.bandcamp.com/album/just-cause-vol-2">Just Cause Vol. 2 by Just Cause</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1368940226/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3783843422/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://just-cause.bandcamp.com/album/just-cause-vol-2">Just Cause Vol. 2 by Just Cause</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1368940226/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1910689750/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://just-cause.bandcamp.com/album/just-cause-vol-2">Just Cause Vol. 2 by Just Cause</a></iframe></p>
<p><em>Just Cause Vol. 2</em> is out now and available via <a href="https://just-cause.bandcamp.com/album/just-cause-vol-2">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Cover art by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bluebakla/?hl=en-gb">Aldrin Regina Valdez</a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/04/10/just-cause-vol-2/">Just Cause Vol. 2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">48140</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: February 2026 #3</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/02/16/weekly-listening-february-2026-3/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2026 19:37:20 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Birmingham]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BWGIBWGAN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cardiff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cat Clyde]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Claddagh Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Concord Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dayydream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dublin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[glasgow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hemlock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ireland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jack k]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lamplight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lemoncello]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Libertino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Bergmann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Run Remedy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirited Followers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virginia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wales]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=47705</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Cat Clyde &#8211; Man&#8217;s World Next month the Canadian songwriter Cat Clyde will release Blood Bone Bone, a new full-length album on Concord Records. An effort to reposition or reimagine her relationship with love, the record sees Clyde turn her indigenous Métis heritage for inspiration, as well as the wide natural world, and serves as a expression of everything from exasperation and fury to personal growth and joy. New single &#8216;Man&#8217;s World&#8217; falls at the former end of that spectrum, [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/02/16/weekly-listening-february-2026-3/">Weekly Listening: February 2026 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Cat Clyde &#8211; Man&#8217;s World</h3>
<p>Next month the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/canada">Canadian</a> songwriter <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/cat-clyde/">Cat Clyde</a> will release <em>Blood Bone Bone</em>, a new full-length album on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/concord-records">Concord Records</a>. An effort to reposition or reimagine her relationship with love, the record sees Clyde turn her indigenous Métis heritage for inspiration, as well as the wide natural world, and serves as a expression of everything from exasperation and fury to personal growth and joy. New single &#8216;Man&#8217;s World&#8217; falls at the former end of that spectrum, though repurposes its anger into something cathartic. &#8220;This is an expression of the frustration I feel existing as a woman in a patriarchal world,&#8221; Clyde explains. &#8220;It sometimes feels difficult to be on a 24 hour clock rather than a 28 day cycle, and a 12 month year instead of a 13 month year. I love and crave masculine energy when it’s strong, protective, and emotionally aware. It has been difficult and deeply disappointing to have had experiences dealing with masculine energy that is childish, cowardly, and encroaching on the feminine space. ‘Man’s World’ touches on my own ideas of what being a woman means in this society and how dangerous and violent it can be for a woman’s heart.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2209640995/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1488225644/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://catclydeband.bandcamp.com/album/mud-blood-bone">Mud Blood Bone by Cat Clyde</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video directed and shot by Lukas Hyrman below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Cat Clyde - Man&#039;s World (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZB8yRwF6bZw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Mud Blood Bone</em> will be released on the 13th March via Concord Records and you can <a href="https://catclydeband.bandcamp.com/album/mud-blood-bone">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dayydream &#8211; Proximity</h3>
<p>Back in 2025 we introduced <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/dayydream/">Dayydream</a>, the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/glasgow">Glasgow</a>-based indie rock project led by visual artist and musician Chloe Trappes. &#8220;Straddles shoegaze, slowcore and indie rock to create a sound both hazy and deep,&#8221; we wrote of single ‘<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/01/21/weekly-listening-january-2025-2/">Fucked Up</a>’, &#8220;its title perhaps belying the song’s inviting warmth but describing its confessional tone to a tee, the sound suspended with a light mist yet not without its own internal force.&#8221; Now Dayydream are about to release <em>Trace</em>, and EP which builds upon these foundations to delve into the strange, melancholic way the past persists into the present. True to this mood, the sound is often restrained and reflective, the tracks playing as though in the aftermath of something, Trappes and co. left alone but for the footprints on the ground, the fading fog of breath on glass. Single &#8216;Proximity&#8217; is a good place to dive in, the upbeat rhythm of its opening belying the weight at its heart, a burden which slowly twists the sound into something altogether more hefty and dense.</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3335563898/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://dayydream.bandcamp.com/track/proximity">Proximity by Dayydream</a></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Proximity&#8217; is out now and available from <a href="https://dayydream.bandcamp.com/track/proximity">Bandcamp</a>.<em> Trace</em> will be released soon.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">jack k &#8211; Welcome To The New World</h3>
<p>A cross-gen collaboration between composer Jack Kilburn and his father, British poet Mark Kilburn, the forthcoming <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/jack-k">jack k</a> album <em>8 Tracks </em>sits at the intersection of music, narrative and memory. Using primarily guitar and piano, Jack creates soundscapes which gesture towards ambient and alt-jazz, and coupled with Mark&#8217;s distinctively Brummie spoken-word delivery, the songs come to represent not only reflection on personal experience and family history but something stranger and more abstract. A hauntological sense of imagined pasts and aborted futures which works to evoke the off-kilter, often melancholic sensation of the contemporary British moment. True to its title, &#8216;Welcome To The New World&#8217; is the ideal entry point into this style. A track spacious and stark, as barren as the society evoked by Kilburn&#8217;s plainspoken lyricism, where the new world is not much of a world at all, but rather just the fading echoes of what we imagined as it falls away from us.</p>
<p><iframe title="Welcome to the New World" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ps9dG0defTk?list=OLAK5uy_mCQq-R_8PELzjTfFWEPtn46MDbO9ZtPCc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>8 Tracks</em> will be released soon.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lamplight &#8211; Year 2083</h3>
<p>&#8220;An exploration of how one’s sense of identity shifts and changes according to any number of present conditions, not least the place we call home at any given time.” That&#8217;s how <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/01/18/lamplight-house-rules-call-mom/">we described</a> the self-titled album by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lamplight/">Lamplight</a> back in 2024, the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/western-vinyl/">Western Vinyl</a> release seeing <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/virginia/">Virginia</a> songwriter Ian Hatcher-Williams grapple with a life which led out of a cult in his home state to a job in tech in NYC before eventually circling back around to returning to Virginia to marry a childhood friend. Glimpse at the title of the latest Lamplight single &#8216;Year 2083&#8217; and you might think Hatcher-Williams has switched focus from the past towards the distant future, though in reality the song is very much embedded in the present. With hemlock adding supporting vocals, the track possesses all of the warmth of the previous album, not to mention the same emotional openness. As though written from within the fluidity of the current moment, with Hatcher-Williams working to establish what is important in real time. Grab it from Bandcamp now, with all proceeds going to <a href="http://bit.ly/mpls-mutual-aid">MPLS mutual aid</a>.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=45689339/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://lamplightsongs.bandcamp.com/track/year-2083-feat-hemlock">Year 2083 (feat. hemlock) by Lamplight</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Year 2083&#8217; is available from <a href="https://lamplightsongs.bandcamp.com/track/year-2083-feat-hemlock">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lemoncello &#8211; Meet Me Halfway</h3>
<p>There&#8217;s a very contemporary tension within <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/cat-clyde/">Lemoncello</a>&#8216;s latest single &#8216;Meet Me Halfway&#8217;. A complicated relationship between intimacy and distance. A sense of push and pull. Out now via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/claddagh-records">Claddagh Records</a>, the song sees <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ireland">Irish</a> duo Laura Quirke (guitar/vocals) and Claire Kinsella (cello/vocals) create a soundscape that&#8217;s spare yet loaded with latent feeling, as though the true weight of the track lies just outside of the frame. An atmosphere fitting for a song which explores how even though we&#8217;re now able to communicate more freely than ever before, we&#8217;re somehow as far apart as we&#8217;ve ever been. “To be so connected / And yet so disconnected,&#8221; as a pertinent line states. &#8220;What’s the point in speaking / With so much left understood.” But rather than settle for a dismayed commentary on such conditions, &#8216;Meet Me Halfway&#8217; pushes further, reaching for the kind of concerted effort required on both sides of a relationship in order to sustain connection. Watch the video below, wih creative direction by Sophie O&#8217;Donovan, editing by AK Heisterkamp and title design by Stina Sandstrom:</p>
<p><iframe title="Lemoncello - Meet Me Halfway (Official Lyric Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/inNLtCbHHwU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;Meet Me Halfway&#8217; is out now via Claddagh Records and available from the usual places.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">new body electric &#8211; every day</h3>
<p>&#8220;It all started with a trumpet,&#8221; explain <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/portland/">Portland</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/oregon/">Oregon</a>-based band new body electric (Aaron Peterson, Evan Smoker and Leah Vautar), but their music has come a long way since then. Following on from a self-titled album in 2024 which drew on everything from funk, electro and jazz to enliven its indie pop sound, the band have returned with new single &#8216;every day&#8217; to continue to explore new ground. Full of easygoing groove, the result is assured in style if not in substance, the track&#8217;s lyrics delving into various personas we adopt to get through day to day existence. But no matter how blurry a sense of self might be thanks to the demands of living, new body electric are here to show this need not necessarily defeat us. Better to commit to the rhythm and groove your way on through.</p>
<p><iframe title="Every Day" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H1GqvuOC3pc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;every day; is out now and available from the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7yln3jVYzT7l7bnQniPBzP">usual places</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Paul Bergmann &#8211; West Rock</h3>
<p>&#8220;A pleading dirge; a manic rumination on the human condition at the foot of a geological anomaly in <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-haven">New Haven</a>, CT.&#8221; That&#8217;s how musician <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/paul-bergmann">Paul Bergmann</a> described his latest single &#8216;West Rock&#8217;, a song released in anticipation of forthcoming full-length <em>Connecticut Cowboy</em>. Across a total of sixteen releases, Bergmann&#8217;s work has shapeshifted from one album to another, moving from scrappy folk punk to sleek piano-led croons, not to mention psychedelic excursions too. But it has always been bound by an overarching thematic concern with existential ideas of life, death and all the dreams therein. As the above description might suggest, &#8216;West Rock&#8217; sees Bergman return to the most immediate, raw form, pitching the audience into a shadowy world and barking confessions at us through the gloom. Think of the nocturnal volatility of acts like Bambara crossed with the Jason Molina&#8217;s bitter poetry and you&#8217;re getting close to the result.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=752569058/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://paulbergmann.bandcamp.com/track/west-rock">West Rock by Paul Bergmann</a></iframe></center>&#8216;West Rock&#8217; is out now and available from <a href="https://paulbergmann.bandcamp.com/track/west-rock">Bandcamp</a>. <em>Connecticut Cowboy</em> is coming soon.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Run Remedy &#8211; Jessie&#8217;s Girl</h3>
<p>The alter ego of US-born, UK-based songwriter Robin Koob, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/run-remedy">Run Remedy</a> embraces both the serious and silly sides of life in its folk rock sound, something embodied by latest single, a reimagining of Rick Springfield&#8217;s 1981 hit &#8216;Jessie&#8217;s Girl&#8217;. This version not only plays with the sound, swapping out the guitar solo for banjo, but also flips the gender to transform the track into a queer anthem. “I swear if I’m back home driving around South Jersey, <em>‘Jessie’s Girl’</em> will come on within the hour (shout out 95.1WAYV),” Koob explains. “It’s been stuck in my head my whole life. That level of cringey yearning is timeless, so obviously I had to make my own sapphic spinoff.” The single comes complete with a video to further cement the changes. “The original video is pure camp, so I basically Weird Al’d it with rainbow kids,” Koob continues. “We recreated almost every shot in one day, gorilla-shooting around Manchester, spared my bathroom mirror, and ended the day passing around the wig. Everyone looked better in it than I did, which feels correct.”</p>
<p><iframe title="Run Remedy -Jessie&#039;s Girl" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yiERqQNnf9A?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8216;Jessie&#8217;s Girl&#8217; is out now and available from the usual places.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Spirited Followers &#8211; Returning</h3>
<p>Back in September we wrote about <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/cardiff">Cardiff</a>-based experimental folk rock outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/spirited-followers/">Spirited Followers</a>, describing how the project reaches across a huge range of influences to inform its singular sound. &#8220;With members hailing from Cyprus, India and Wales, Ireland, and England, the diversity of inspiration is perhaps unsurprising,&#8221; we explained, &#8220;though the work of Spirited Followers pushes beyond those backgrounds too. You’ll hear elements of Appalachian mountain music in the stark guitar, as well as a Greek flavour among several others.&#8221; Released via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/Libertino">Libertino</a>&#8216;s new sister label <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/BWGIBWGAN">BWGIBWGAN</a>, latest single &#8216;Returning&#8217; is no less ambitious, mining ancient songwriting traditons for their devotional power while still positioning their sound on the cutting edge of the contemporary movement too. It a glimpse at the band&#8217;s reflective side, &#8220;reframing themes of death,&#8221; as the label put it, &#8220;through warmth, acceptance and spiritual calm.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=4072662382/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://spiritedfollowers.bandcamp.com/track/returning">Returning by Spirited Followers</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Returning&#8217; is out now via BWGIBWGAN and available from <a href="https://spiritedfollowers.bandcamp.com/track/returning">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2026/02/16/weekly-listening-february-2026-3/">Weekly Listening: February 2026 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">47705</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>If I Could Only Fly: A Comp For LA Wildfire Relief</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/02/06/if-i-could-only-fly-a-comp-for-la-wildfire-relief/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Feb 2025 17:21:26 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[advance base]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Allegra Krieger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[claire rousay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eliza Niemi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Friko]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hemlock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jolie Holland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Karima Walker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lisa/liza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Little Mazarn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Macie Stewart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sophia Corinne]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Steinbrink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tasha]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tobacco City]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=44209</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>In response to the recent catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles, Little Mazarn, hemlock and Jolie Holland have come together to organise If I Could Only Fly, a benefit compilation in support of Sweet Relief. &#8220;In November of 2024, [we] went into the studio to record an EP with our friend Jolie Holland,&#8221; explains Little Mazarn&#8217;s Lindsey Verrill. &#8220;The vibe in the studio was heavy, we were recording on election Tuesday and avoiding the news which inevitably reached us all later [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/02/06/if-i-could-only-fly-a-comp-for-la-wildfire-relief/">If I Could Only Fly: A Comp For LA Wildfire Relief</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In response to the recent catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/little-mazarn/">Little Mazarn</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hemlock/">hemlock</a> and Jolie Holland have come together to organise <em>If I Could Only Fly</em>, a benefit compilation in support of <a href="https://www.sweetrelief.org/naturaldisasterfund.html">Sweet Relief</a>. &#8220;In November of 2024, [we] went into the studio to record an EP with our friend Jolie Holland,&#8221; explains Little Mazarn&#8217;s Lindsey Verrill. &#8220;The vibe in the studio was heavy, we were recording on election Tuesday and avoiding the news which inevitably reached us all later that night. The songs we recorded [&#8230;] captured that heaviness but also something else, a deep feeling of being held by our togetherness, despite it all!&#8221;</p>
<p>When news of the fires broke in January 2025, Verrill&#8217;s mind returned to this feeling. &#8220;The faces I was seeing online of people who were fleeing, who lost everything, were friends, family, and collaborators,&#8221; they continue. &#8220;The helpless darkness was creeping in. I grasped for that feeling, that feeling of being held and together and supported that threaded through the music we created on Election Day. I called up Jolie and Carolina about our comp idea.&#8221;</p>
<p>The resulting release features over forty tracks by an array of talent, including VSF favs like <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/karima-walker/">Karima Walker</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/advance-base/">Advance Base</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/tobacco-city/">Tobacco City</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/macie-stewart/">Macie Stewart</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/allegra-krieger/">Allegra Krieger</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/squirrel-flower">Squirrel Flower</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/claire-rousay/">Claire Rousay</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lisaliza/">Lisa/Liza</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/stephen-steinbrink">Stephen Steinbrink</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/tasha/">Tasha</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/eliza-niemi/">Eliza Niemi</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/sophia-corinne/">Sophia Corinne</a> and many others. But where some compilations which take the maximalist approach end up with a disparate, scattergun feel, <em>If I Could Only Fly</em> maintains a clear, uniting vibe despite the diversity of its artists. A sense of cohesion and togetherness which hints at the radical potential within the collective, something we need to remember now more than ever as the suite of challenges which marks the contemporary moment only widens and deepens. As Verrill continues:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 40px;">I feel like coming together an creating a Thing like a Comp not only raises cold hard cash for the people that need it now (and we could all be next) it weaves us together in song and solidarity, reminds us we have each other, adds our names to the list of those we could turn to, whether it is the artists who contribute or the dear ears who listen, share, and support. These things matter when things are hard. They matter always</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3911016839/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=1247882938/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://littlemazarn.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-could-only-fly-a-comp-for-la-wildfire-relief">‘If I could only fly’ a comp for LA Wildfire Relief by hemlock</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3911016839/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=2360107504/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://littlemazarn.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-could-only-fly-a-comp-for-la-wildfire-relief">‘If I could only fly’ a comp for LA Wildfire Relief by Jolie Holland</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3911016839/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=684473532/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://littlemazarn.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-could-only-fly-a-comp-for-la-wildfire-relief">‘If I could only fly’ a comp for LA Wildfire Relief by Little Mazarn with Jolie Holland</a></iframe></p>
<p>‘If I could only fly’ a comp for LA Wildfire Relief is out now and available from <a href="https://littlemazarn.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-could-only-fly-a-comp-for-la-wildfire-relief">Bandcamp</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Cover art by Lili Todd</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2025/02/06/if-i-could-only-fly-a-comp-for-la-wildfire-relief/">If I Could Only Fly: A Comp For LA Wildfire Relief</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">44209</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Mar 2024 11:49:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Austin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brooklyn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dark Mean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Germany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ghost Mountain Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Good Looks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Granata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grind Select]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Grocer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hamilton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hemlock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keeled Scales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lamplight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mansions and Millions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Margaux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Massif Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meagre Martin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ontario]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philadelphia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Ouyang Rusli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[W. Y. Huang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[western vinyl]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=40497</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Dark Mean &#8211; Working Hard Hamilton, Ontario indie rock outfit Dark Mean have been making music for well over a decade now, introducing themselves with a self-titled album back in 2011 and returning every few years with new songs to prove the project is still alive and kicking. Their first release since 2016, &#8216;Working Hard&#8217; feels like a dispatch from a reality faced by a huge number of acts these days, where cycles of inspiration and hiatus are governed by [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/">Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Dark Mean &#8211; Working Hard</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hamilton/">Hamilton</a>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/ontario/">Ontario</a> indie rock outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/dark-mean/">Dark Mean</a> have been making music for well over a decade now, introducing themselves with a self-titled album back in 2011 and returning every few years with new songs to prove the project is still alive and kicking. Their first release since 2016, &#8216;Working Hard&#8217; feels like a dispatch from a reality faced by a huge number of acts these days, where cycles of inspiration and hiatus are governed by work schedules and personal responsibilities. A song fired by the twin forces of frustration and passion and driven by the urgency of the ticking clock.  &#8220;I haven’t forgot your name / I’d give it to you if you ever came,&#8221; as one verse plays. &#8220;I’ve still got a lot to say / I’ll tell you about it someday.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2123605970/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://darkmean.com/track/working-hard">Working Hard by Dark Mean</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Working Hard&#8217; is out now and available from the Dark Mean <a href="https://darkmean.bandcamp.com/track/working-hard">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Grocer &#8211; Caterpillar Pilled</h3>
<p>&#8220;&#8216;Packrat&#8217; finds Grocer at their most collaborative, trusting in the bonds which have now developed between the members to make something far greater than the sum of its parts.&#8221; So we wrote of the first single from the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/philadelphia/">Philly</a> band&#8217;s new album <em>Bless Me</em>, coming later this spring on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/grind-select/">Grind Select</a>, which promises to elevate Grocer&#8217;s trademark volatility to new heights. Latest single &#8216;Caterpillar Pilled&#8217; embodies this spirit, possessing both brash energy and off-the-wall charm. With constant changes of speed, the song is always on the verge of unravelling into chaos but manages to cling on by its fingertips, emerging all the more triumphant as a result. Watch the video by Nicholas Rahn below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Grocer - Caterpillar Pilled (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kevlqN-k92I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Bless Me</em> is out on the 19th April via Grind Select and you can <a href="https://itsgrocer.bandcamp.com/album/bless-me">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">hemlock &#8211; Garbage Truck</h3>
<p><em>Back in 2022</em> <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/18/weekly-listening-feb-2022-3/">we mentioned</a> <em>talk soon</em> by Chicago&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hemlock/">hemlock</a>, describing single &#8216;to carry&#8217; as &#8220;a song of hushed yet heartfelt vignettes which rises toward an impassioned finale, providing snapshots of love in its various guises.&#8221; The project has since gone on to put out several further releases, including the single &#8216;<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/04/06/hemlock-monarch/">monarch</a>&#8216;, a month-long song-a-day challenge album and a live session, but now hemlock is teaming up with the good folks at Ghost Mountain Records to celebrate the second anniversary of the talk soon release with the album&#8217;s first ever vinyl run. To mark the occasion, hemlock has unveiled a video for the single &#8216;Garbage Truck&#8217; directed and edited by lead Carolina Chauffe and filmed along with Daniel Joseph and Reed Everette. Check it out below:</p>
<p><iframe title="hemlock - garbage truck (official music video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y0RkmX-vBHQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The <em>talk soon</em> vinyl is out on the 10th May via Ghost Mountain Records and you can <a href="https://store.ghostmountainrecords.com/products/779665-hemlock-talk-soon-pre-order">pre-order it now</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Lamplight &#8211; S/T</h3>
<p>Back in January <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/01/18/lamplight-house-rules-call-mom/">we previewed</a> the self-titled album Ian Hatcher-Williams&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/lamplight/">Lamplight</a> on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/western-vinyl/">Western Vinyl</a>, what we called &#8220;an exploration of how one’s sense of identity shifts and changes according to any number of present conditions, not least the place we call home at any given time.&#8221; With the record now out, Lamplight has shared the title track as a final single, which serves to not only underline the intentions behind the album but the Lamplight project as a whole. After experiencing a profound mixture of love and grief on contemplating the inevitable end of an intimate relationship, Hatcher-Williams found comfort in the concept of reincarnation, as well as a poem by Mark Strand titled &#8216;Love Silhouetted by Lamplight’ (from which Lamplight would come to take its name). &#8220;I&#8217;m too high<br />
the lamp light, you&#8217;ve / caught me crying,&#8221; as he sings:</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>now we&#8217;re laying here uncovered<br />
our legs braided around each other</h5>
<h5>i&#8217;m fixated on the future<br />
that one day we lose the other</h5>
<h5>come back to, for a moment<br />
that&#8217;s just long enough notice</h5>
<h5>we&#8217;re cosmically together<br />
a bond older than each other</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1111231400/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/track=3206646194/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://lamplight-the-band.bandcamp.com/album/lamplight">Lamplight by Lamplight</a></iframe></p>
<p>The song comes complete with a video which further develops these themes:</p>
<p><iframe title="Lamplight - &quot;Lamplight&quot; (Official Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KhI_En3cGeI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Lamplight</em> is out on now via Western Vinyl and available from the Lamplight <a href="https://lamplight-the-band.bandcamp.com/album/lamplight">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Margaux &#8211; DNA</h3>
<p>Back in 2019 <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2019/10/18/margaux-palm/">we wrote about</a> <em>More Brilliant Is The Hand That Throws The Coin</em>, the debut EP by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/margaux/">Margaux</a> released via <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/massif-records/">Massif Records</a>, describing how the juxtaposition of bright energy and syrupy dreamscape on single &#8216;Palm&#8217; &#8220;serve[d] to bring to the life to duality of people too, as though beneath the outward face of our feelings lies depth more expansive and strange.&#8221; With a debut full-length on the way later this year, The <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn/">Brooklyn</a> singer-songwriter has now returned with &#8216;DNA&#8217;, another nuanced picture where longing and confrontation can occur simultaneously, and a floating drift can quickly escalate towards a cathartic climax. It&#8217;s apparently the first song from an album due later in the year, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more info.</p>
<p><iframe title="Margaux - &quot;DNA&quot; (Official Audio)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hq6-xlQ1CaQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>The debut Margaux full-length will be released later this year via Massif Records.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">May Rio &#8211; Fun!</h3>
<p>Stretching the definition of a solo project, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-york/">New York</a>&#8216;s May Rio sometimes plays with a classic guitar/drums band, and others an arrangement of cello, piano and saxophone. The latter, what she calls the Elegant Ensemble, gives its name to the new May Rio album. A collection of rearrangements of previously released tracks, scrubbed clean of the gloss of studio production and presented anew as an assemblage of their essential parts. There is one brand new track too though. Titled &#8216;Fun!&#8217; it&#8217;s a song about a teenage car accident delivered with the idiosyncratic blend of playfulness and grace which runs through Rio&#8217;s work. &#8220;The day I got my driver&#8217;s permit, aged sixteen,&#8221; she describes, &#8220;I borrowed my mother&#8217;s forest-green Isuzu Trooper for a trip to a new movie showing at the mall,&#8221; only the adventure was cut short at a junction.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Sweet sixteen I get to take a spin<br />
Windows rolled down wind’s all on my skin<br />
T-boned by a speeding stoner hard<br />
Momma’s Trooper’s totaled but what’s worse<br />
Is it was fun</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2759883164/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://mayrio.bandcamp.com/track/fun">Fun! by May Rio</a></iframe></p>
<p>Watch the video directed by Ben Gordon below:</p>
<p><iframe title="May Rio - &quot;Fun!&quot; (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7UUvR17LIyM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Elegant Ensemble</em> is out on the 3rd May.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Meagre Martin &#8211; Malcolm</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/meagre-martin/">Meagre Martin</a>&#8216;s <em>Gut Punch</em>, released last year on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/mansions-and-millions/">Mansions and Millions</a> introduced the <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/berlin/">Berlin</a>-based band&#8217;s ability to broach the most pressing social themes of the moment with both confidence, fire and relatability. &#8220;The gut punch of the title therefore refers not so much to the Meagre Martin sound but rather the subject matter they take on,&#8221; as <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/10/25/meagre-martin-big-death/">we put it in a preview</a>. &#8220;The world as a series of debilitating blows.&#8221; New single &#8216;Malcolm&#8217; continues this style to great effect, leaning into a more guitar-led sound to better evoke the track&#8217;s rebellious nature. An ode to <em>Malcolm in the Middle</em> at once fond and discordant, teasing out themes of precarity and generational trauma from within nostalgic memories of the show.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>I’m human too,<br />
We break the rules<br />
That’s nothing new<br />
Why settle down<br />
You start to drown<br />
So pull me out</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=1066848802/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://meagremartin.bandcamp.com/track/malcolm">Malcolm by meagre martin</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Malcolm&#8217; is out now and available from the Meagre Martin <a href="https://meagremartin.bandcamp.com/track/malcolm">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Robert Ouyang Rusli &#8211; Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail</h3>
<p>Brooklyn-based composer and artist Robert Ouyang Rusli took on their most ambitious project to date with the soundtrack for Julio Torres&#8217;s <em>Problemista</em>, a new film coming later this month via A24, starring Torres alongside the likes of Tilda Swinton. The artist, who also records under the moniker Ohyung, created over fifty songs for the score, looking to match the surreal world Torres has created with something just as agile and inventive. Single &#8216;Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail&#8217; serves as an enticing glimpse of the project&#8217;s full scope, the film bleeding into the soundtrack in the same manner the music pours into the film. Orchestral arrangements of synths and choral vocals are accentuated with sounds from the colourfully whimsical film-world, creating what the press release describes as &#8220;rhythmic backdrops for the bureaucratic nightmares of the American immigration system.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1555907740&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></center></p>
<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;"><a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Robert Ouyang Rusli" href="https://soundcloud.com/robertouyangrusli" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Ouyang Rusli</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Elizabeth's Voicemail" href="https://soundcloud.com/robertouyangrusli/elizabeths-voicemail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elizabeth&#8217;s Voicemail</a></div>
<p>The <em>Problemista </em>soundtrack will be released on the 15th March, and the film itself on the 22nd.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">W. Y. Huang &#8211; Life Just Lately (feat. Granata)</h3>
<p>Facing the sudden onset of chronic pain, Singapore-born, New York-based singer-songwriter W. Y. Huang turned to music as an outlet. His new EP <em>Knots</em>, coming later this spring, serves as an exploration of pain and healing, as well as the more general transience of things and the ebb and flow of hope. First single &#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; introduces this with a bright and breezy indie pop style, welcoming New York rap artist Granata to further the track&#8217;s unguarded tone and capture the mood of the release as a whole. &#8220;This EP was a deeply personal endeavour, both in how the songs came together and the writing process,&#8221; as Huang explains. &#8220;It all blossomed from a very vulnerable place.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=4025125211/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/artwork=small/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/track/life-just-lately-feat-granata">Life Just Lately (feat. Granata) by W. Y. Huang</a></iframe></p>
<p><iframe title="W. Y. Huang - Life Just Lately (feat. Granata)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XNPlhGTIgIk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>&#8216;Life Just Lately&#8217; is out now and available from the W. Y. Huang <a href="https://wyhuangofficial.bandcamp.com/track/life-just-lately-feat-granata">Bandcamp page</a>. <em>Knots</em> will be released in May.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2024/03/12/weekly-listening-march-2024-2/">Weekly Listening: March 2024 #2</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<title>hemlock &#8211; monarch</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/04/06/hemlock-monarch/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Liam Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Apr 2023 18:16:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hemlock]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=36948</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Last year we wrote a small piece about talk soon, the debut album by Chicago-based songwriter Carolina Chauffe&#8217;s project hemlock. Described as an “interstate phone-fi bedroom folk saga of sorts,” the record offered a picture &#8220;of a relationship as it changes over time and distance,&#8221; as we wrote in the piece, &#8220;providing snapshots of love in its various guises.&#8221; This might have been through its soft and reflective songs providing a level of detail only really shared in rambling answerphone [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/04/06/hemlock-monarch/">hemlock &#8211; monarch</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last year we wrote a small piece about <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/18/weekly-listening-feb-2022-3/"><em>talk soon</em></a>, the debut album by <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/chicago">Chicago</a>-based songwriter Carolina Chauffe&#8217;s project <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/hemlock/">hemlock</a>. Described as an “interstate phone-fi bedroom folk saga of sorts,” the record offered a picture &#8220;of a relationship as it changes over time and distance,&#8221; as we wrote in the piece, &#8220;providing snapshots of love in its various guises.&#8221; This might have been through its soft and reflective songs providing a level of detail only really shared in rambling answerphone messages, or, as in the case of songs like &#8216;merle&#8217;, the actual recorded messages themselves.</p>
<p>In celebration of the album&#8217;s first anniversary last month, hemlock released a brand new single &#8216;monarch&#8217;. A track originally intended to appear on <em>talk soon</em>, it&#8217;s a song that has had a long gestation period, following Chauffe as she&#8217;s moved from the swamps of Louisiana first to Oregon and then finally to Illinois like the migratory nature of the insect that gives it its title. Chauffe is joined by Andrew Krull on electric guitar and Seth Engel on bass, though the arrangement maintains a careful restraint, and the result channels the spirit of its namesake—so delicate in its immediate form yet possessing an underlying power too.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>in the ebb and flow of sorrow<br />
the loneliness not yours to keep,<br />
but borrow</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3208837820/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://hemlock.bandcamp.com/track/monarch-2">monarch by hemlock</a></iframe></center>&#8216;monarch&#8217; is out now and available via the Hemlock <a href="https://hemlock.bandcamp.com/track/monarch-2">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Photo by Erik Kommer</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2023/04/06/hemlock-monarch/">hemlock &#8211; monarch</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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		<title>Weekly Listening: Feb 2022 #3</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/18/weekly-listening-feb-2022-3/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Feb 2022 17:23:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[New Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weekly Listening]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Basement Revolver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Scary Monsters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brisbane]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cinder Well]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[denver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Dirt Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hemlock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeremy Squires]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jim Ghedi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kitty Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Knuckle Pups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mouse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Jersey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[norway]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nudista]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oceanator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[olyvinyl Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sad Club Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scotland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sonic Løland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sonic Unyon Records]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Durkan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sunshine Coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teen Idle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Upcycled Sounds Records]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=27585</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Basement Revolver &#8211; Dissolve To celebrate the arrival of their brand new record, Embody, Hamilton&#8217;s Basement Revolver have unveiled the final single, &#8216;Dissolve&#8217;. We previously described how the album displays a &#8220;willingness to confront the intricacies of modern life with a newfound steel and depth,&#8221; and the new single is full of the compassion and solidarity which makes this possible. An ode to figuring things out together. Embody by Basement RevolverEmbody is out now via Sonic Unyon and you can [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/18/weekly-listening-feb-2022-3/">Weekly Listening: Feb 2022 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 style="text-align: center;">Basement Revolver &#8211; Dissolve</h3>
<p>To celebrate the arrival of their brand new record, <em>Embody</em>, Hamilton&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/basement-revolver/">Basement Revolver</a> have unveiled the final single, &#8216;Dissolve&#8217;. We <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2021/08/11/basement-revolver-skin/">previously described</a> how the album displays a &#8220;willingness to confront the intricacies of modern life with a newfound steel and depth,&#8221; and the new single is full of the compassion and solidarity which makes this possible. An ode to figuring things out together.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=315521862/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=2239839856/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://basementrevolver.bandcamp.com/album/embody">Embody by Basement Revolver</a></iframe></center><em>Embody</em> is out now via Sonic Unyon and you can get it from the Basement Revolver <a href="https://basementrevolver.bandcamp.com/album/embody">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Carli &amp; The Dark &#8211; Voicemail</h3>
<p>Carli &amp; The Dark is the folk rock project of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/phoenix/">Phoenix</a>-born, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brooklyn">Brooklyn</a>-based songwriter Carli Naff. Latest single &#8216;Voicemail&#8217; concerns losing a parent, specifically that strange half second when the urge to contact them arises out of well-worn habit, a wish to share a simple moment of a day. The song emerges from this brief period where they are still alive, still waiting, and follows it through the renewed sense of loss before culminating in a compassionate group refrain which features Naff&#8217;s mother and siblings among other loved ones. &#8220;All my peeps who grieved together,&#8221; as she puts it. &#8220;It’s a little detail that really brings me a sense of safety at the end, of being held.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>Saying my nickname in a voicemail from your car<br />
You were there, there you are<br />
And though you are not around,<br />
You would love this song I found</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=2303922031/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://carliandthedark.bandcamp.com/track/voicemail">Voicemail by Carli &amp; The Dark</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Voicemail&#8217; is out now and is available from the Carli &amp; The Dark <a href="https://carliandthedark.bandcamp.com/track/voicemail">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Cinder Well x Jim Ghedi &#8211; I Am a Youth That&#8217;s Inclined to Ramble</h3>
<p>Cinder Well and Jim Ghedi have teamed up for a new two-song single, reinterpreting traditional folk ballads. &#8216;I Am a Youth That&#8217;s Inclined to Rambled&#8217; highlights how the pair accentuate the stark loneliness of the material with sparse arrangements haunted by foreboding drone. A song of vast distances and separation, sung into a soundscape as empty and inscrutable as the ocean itself.</p>
<p><iframe title="Cinder Well x Jim Ghedi - I Am a Youth That&#039;s Inclined to Rambled" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vm9oEpxi3Qg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>I Am a Youth That&#8217;s Inclined to Ramble</em> is out now via Free Dirt Records and is available from the Cinder Well <a href="https://cinderwell.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-a-youth-thats-inclined-to-ramble">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">hemlock &#8211; to carry (feat. Laith)</h3>
<p>Described as an &#8220;interstate phone-fi bedroom folk saga of sorts,&#8221; <em>talk soon</em> is the full-band <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/chicago/">Chicago</a>-based project hemlock. Latest single invites long-time friend and collaborator Laith Scherer and explores the nuances of a relationship as it changes over time and distance. A song of hushed yet heartfelt vignettes which rises toward an impassioned finale, providing snapshots of love in its various guises.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>it’s okay<br />
we carry our pain<br />
in separate ways<br />
on different days<br />
but I’ll be there for you</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3897030800/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=1685262163/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://hemlock.bandcamp.com/album/talk-soon">talk soon by hemlock</a></iframe></center><em>talk soon</em> is out on the 11th March and you can pre-order it now from the hemlock <a href="https://hemlock.bandcamp.com/album/talk-soon">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Jeremy Squires &#8211; Drift</h3>
<p>We&#8217;ve written about <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/north-carolina/">North Carolina</a> native <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/jeremy-squires/">Jeremy Squires</a> numerous times, an artist working in the American songwriting tradition of sharing heart and soul with generous helpings of grit and honesty. Ahead of a new album, slated for release later this year on Blackbird Record Label, Squires has unveiled a new single, &#8216;Drift&#8217;. It&#8217;s a song that finds him at his devastating best, built on just acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals that quaver with both exhausted despondency and a steely inner strength. &#8220;I was sad,&#8221; he sings, &#8220;Now I’m lost / I forgot where I belong.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=4075385522/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://jeremysquires.bandcamp.com/track/drift">Drift by Jeremy Squires</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Drift&#8217; is out now and available to stream and download from the Jeremy Squires <a href="https://jeremysquires.bandcamp.com/track/drift">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Knuckle Pups &#8211; Soft Attraction</h3>
<p>Ahead of their upcoming album, <em>TV Ready</em>, <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/denver">Denver</a> &#8220;soda punk&#8221; outfit <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/knuckle-pups/">Knuckle Pups</a> have unveiled single &#8216;Soft Attraction&#8217;. The track is an encapsulation of what such a genre entails, taking the fizzy energy of indie and adding an anarchic punk edge, though the songs are far from one-dimensional sugar rushes. Principle songwriter Oliver Holloway writes songs spread across the gamut of moods and tones, making room for earnest emotion and ironic playfulness within the same track, and as the new single shows, this often builds into triumphantly cathartic crescendos.</p>
<p><iframe title="Knuckle Pups - Soft Attraction (Official Music Video)" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iHexhMioJmk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>TV Ready</em> is set for release sometime later this year.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Mouse &#8211; Pinned To An Avalanche</h3>
<p>Based between Sunshine Coast and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/brisbane/">Brisbane</a>, Mouse formed over a mutual appreciation of noisy DIY music, and thus set about making it themselves. The first single from forthcoming debut <em>Here Was Then</em> on Kitty Records, &#8216;Pinned to an Avalanche&#8217; is all about escaping worry and doubt through some larger, consuming present, and Mouse oblige by recreating the descending wall of snow with their dense and hefty sound. Check out the video directed by the band and shot by Harley Jones:</p>
<p><iframe title="Mouse - Pinned To An Avalanche (Offical Music Video)" width="1170" height="878" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q2vEc-TWBSo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Here Was Then</em> will be released by Kitty Records later this year.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">nudista &#8211; inasmuch</h3>
<p>Next month sees the release of nudista&#8217;s <em>Halfway Here EP </em>on Sad Club Records, but in the meantime they have unveiled a new standalone single, &#8216;inasmuch&#8217;. The song is a great introduction to Pilar Matji Cabello and Robbie Carman&#8217;s work, a clarified dream pop which seeks to communicate directly and honestly. &#8220;It is a message to say that we are capable of evolving and moving forward even when it is scary,&#8221; as Cabello puts it, the gentle rhythmic pull drawing the listener close and compelling them onward.</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3173736907/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://nudistaband.bandcamp.com/track/inasmuch">inasmuch by nudista</a></iframe></center>&#8216;inasmuch&#8217; is out now via Sad Club Records, and <em>Halfway Here EP</em> is out on the 31st March. Head on over to <a href="https://nudistaband.bandcamp.com/music">Bandcamp</a> to snag both.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Oceanator &#8211; Bad Brain Daze</h3>
<p>April sees the return of <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/oceanator/">Oceanator</a> with <em>Nothing&#8217;s Ever Fine</em>, a brand new album on<a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/polyvinyl-records/"> Polyvinyl Records</a> and <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/big-scary-monsters/">Big Scary Monsters</a> which looks to build upon the apocalyptic themes of 2020&#8217;s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2020/09/08/oceanator-things-i-never-said/"><em>Things I Never Said</em></a>. Lead single &#8216;Bad Brain Daze&#8217; typifies the duality of tenuous optimism and crushing pessimism which marks the record. The sound of existing within an unfolding disaster where the conclusion is still unclear, and nevertheless delivered with Elise Okusami&#8217;s characteristically triumphant energy. Check out the video directed by Chris Farren below:</p>
<p><iframe title="Oceanator - Bad Brain Daze [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]" width="1170" height="658" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jiRGU4Oss8c?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><em>Nothing&#8217;s Ever Fine</em> is out on the 8th April via Polyvinyl Records and Big Scary Monsters and you can pre-order it now from the Oceanator <a href="https://oceanator.bandcamp.com/album/nothings-ever-fine">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Sonic Løland &#8211; Up to You</h3>
<p><a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/norway/">Norwegian</a> musician Anders Løland spent much of 2020 experimenting with styles and sounds, building up a library of ideas and demos which would form the basis of <em>And Then The Sun Came Up</em>, the debut album of his Sonic Løland project. Due for release this autumn via Koke Plate, the album shows off the full spectrum of Løland&#8217;s inspiration, creating a new brand of indie folk with ambient styles, electronic drums and rich 60s sensibilities, as shown by lead single, &#8216;Up to You&#8217;.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1203247012&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="300" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></center></p>
<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;"><a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Sonic Løland" href="https://soundcloud.com/user-110565172" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sonic Løland</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Up To You" href="https://soundcloud.com/user-110565172/up-to-you-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Up To You</a></div>
<p><em>And Then The Sun Came Up</em> will be released by Koke Plate this coming autumn.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Stephen Durkan &#8211; Prayer</h3>
<p>Combining spoken word with electronic and ambient styles, Glasgow&#8217;s Stephen Durkan seems the latest in a long line of cynical Scottish preachers, bitter and sardonic yet bursting with a verbal energy. Written in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist/producer Niko O’Brien and released via Upcycled Sounds Records, his debut EP <em>The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves</em> both confirms and subverts this label. The anger and frustration are palpable, but beneath this lies something else. A flimsy belief in the continued value of critiquing the society in which we find ourselves, in imagining something new. Check out the first single &#8216;Prayer&#8217; below:</p>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1199402139/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/track=3611378509/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://stephendurkan.bandcamp.com/album/the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-about-ourselves-ep">The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves EP by Stephen Durkan</a></iframe></center><em>The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves</em> is out now via Upcycled Sounds Records and available from the Stephen Durkan <a href="https://stephendurkan.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Teen Idle &#8211; Burning</h3>
<p>The music of Teen Idle might be an almost entirely solo endeavour recorded in a <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/new-jersey/">New Jersey</a> basement, but you&#8217;d never guess it from the sound. For Sara Abdelbarry rejects the lo-fi aesthetics of many garage and bedroom acts for something more full-bodied. Take latest single, &#8216;Burning&#8217;, its rich sound featuring electric guitar, bass guitar, keys, synth, shaker, maracas, claps, lighter and sound effects all played by Abdelbarry, with only the drums delegated to Danny Murray. What emerges is an examination of unrequited love in all of its vivid detail, hope, bitterness and unabashed emotion rising into a huge climax.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>I climbed up to the top alone<br />
And watch the city burn below<br />
If you won&#8217;t help me put her to rest<br />
I&#8217;ll dig the hole by myself</h5>
</blockquote>
<p><center><iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 442px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/track=3693914032/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/transparent=true/" seamless=""><a href="https://teenidle.bandcamp.com/track/burning">Burning by Teen Idle</a></iframe></center>&#8216;Burning&#8217; is out now and available from the Teen Idle <a href="https://teenidle.bandcamp.com/track/burning">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2022/02/18/weekly-listening-feb-2022-3/">Weekly Listening: Feb 2022 #3</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
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